Pittsburgh Pirates Make a Minor Trade With the New York Mets

Sunday afternoon the Pittsburgh Pirates made a minor trade with the New York Mets to add bullpen depth to the organization

In the past week the Pittsburgh Pirates have been hit hard with the injury bug, and each of these injuries have occurred to the pitching staff. Earlier in the week, the team placed relievers Kyle Crick and Clay Holmes on the injured list. Then on Sunday, starter Mitch Keller and reliever Michael Feliz joined them.

This has left the Pittsburgh Pirates scrambling for some organizational pitching depth. General manager Ben Cherington addressed this need on Sunday when he acquired right-handed reliever Tyler Bashlor from the New York Mets in exchange for cash considerations.

Bashlor owns a 5.33 ERA and a 6.18 FIP in 54 career innings at the MLB level. All 54 of these innings have come out of the bullpen. However, there is some intrigue with Bashlor due to his fastball. Last season, Bashlor’s fastball ranked in the 85th percentile in all of baseball in velocity and the 97th percentile in spin rate.

To make room for Bashlor on the 40-man roster, left-handed reliever Robbie Erlin was designated for assignment. Erlin was signed as a minor league free agent in the off-season, and had pitched 3.1 innings for the Pirates this season. Erlin had allowed two runs on five hits, a walk and four strikeouts in his 3.1 innings of work. To be honest, it was a surprise to see Erlin DFA’d instead of fellow lefty Miguel Del Pozo.

Cherington told reporters on Sunday that Bashlor will likely report to Altoona to work out. This would leave the Pittsburgh Pirates with an open spot on their active roster. With relievers Blake Cederlind and Keone Kela having returned from the coronavirus to start training with the team again, it is possible one of them could join the active roster early this week to fill that final spot.